Farm Girls

So, as most of you probably know, Micah and I recently started renting this cute farmhouse on 20 acres of land. Since we contacted the owner of the house and begged her to rent it to us, we were naturally in charge of cleaning it up and dealing with all the joys that come with owning (or renting) a very old home. This house was built in the early 1900's and has not been occupied for two years. Needless to say, much of the house still operates as it did in the 1950's...very limited and old (ungrounded) electrical sockets, single pane windows in great need of resealing, and many other joys.

So recently, Micah and I had toyed with the idea of getting a third roommate to help pay rent, and to keep each other company since we seem to have opposite schedules. We had talked with a few girls in our ward who loved the idea of living in a charming little farmhouse. When she came to see it, she was enamoured by the quaintness of the house and the way we had decorated it using both vintage and modern design. However, then came the real test.

















It had been a really cold morning, and by the time she came over, it hd started warming up. As soon as the sun came through the front windows, so did a herd of probably 100-200 lady bugs. Literally! They were crawling ALL over the windows and the walls, inside and out. I have no idea where they came from, but they were EVERYWHERE within minutes. I just laughed and kept doing what I was doing, and my friend squeamishly commented, "wow, you and Micah sure are farmgirls, eh?" Since she was getting so grossed out, I vacuumed them up (see the picture to the right) and within 30 minutes, they were back. In all their glory! Needless to say, she immediately started letting me know about some other housing opportunities she was also pursuing.

Today, I went into my bedroom to change before running to the store and found a tiny little salamander peering up at me from my dresser drawer. I guess we are farmgirls. Micah and I just laughed as we let our little friend outside. Who knows what we'll find next!

Big Bad

This year for halloween, Bart and I are dressing up as Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. I'm pretty excited about the costumes--I'm making them and they're going to be pretty funny. In the meantime, I dressed Tosia as Granny for the Kirkland Wednesday Market dog costume contest. Although it didn't end up being a contest at all, I know that Tosia would have won. She got the most "ooohs and aaaahs" of any of the other dogs. Plus she's the cutest and the sweetest. She was rather upset with me for dressing her up, so I had to reward her with many doggie treats. Bart and I are running a 5K tomorrow in Costume, so I'll post some pictures.

Long Time

So I've avoided posting anything because I'm embarrassed that it's been so long since I've posted anything, and it would take me forever to update you all on what has been going on in my life, so I've decided to start fresh today and start posting as if you're all up to date on my life. I really think that is the easiest way that will create the least amount of catch-up anxiety for me.

Really, I have the most glamourous job...

So a lot has happened this week that convinces me that I have the most glamorous job there is. It has been a rough week because the weather has been a bit crazy. We had some major flooding on Monday, causing the power to go out for the last three hours of school on Monday. Between the weather and the power outages, I had two days in a row where I had no recess--the kids were inside (and crazy!) for recess those two days. So needless to say, on Wednesday, I was worn out and very envious of my recess time. So I'm sitting at my desk during recess and I have three students in my room reading silently, when Jack--my "starving" student pops his head in the door and says, "Miss Sharp, I need you out here..." with urgency in his voice. I'm so sick of dealing with stuff that I lazily ask him what he needs... he then tells me that he needs to go to the office right now! When I ask why, he says (from across the room so that every student sitting in the classroom can hear) "Miguel made me laugh to hard and I had an accident..." he walks into the classroom with his legs spread far apart...
Keep in mind that I teach 6th grade...? And that this kid is a pretty big 6th grader.
So, to add to the glamour. The next day, I dismiss my students first thing to go to Music class after unpacking their backpacks. When they are gone, I walk over by the backpacks and this is what I see sitting on the table next to the backpacks:




Now, does anyone else have a more glamorous job than me? I challenge you...

Quandry

So a funny thing happened today. As you know, I teach 6th grade, and if you remember anything about sixth grade it is an incredibly akward age where kids are all over the place maturity-wise. I have kids who act like they're in college...to kids who still cry at the drop of a hat because somebody stole his favorite new highlighter. I also have kids who are still wearing toddler clothes to kids that are almost as tall as me!

Anyway, so on MWF, I open my classroom during lunch for tutoring. The kids can bring their lunches into my room and eat before they start working on homework. About halfway through lunch, one of my boys comes up to me and asks if he can go to the lunch room to get lunch. I could have sworn that he had just been eating, so I asked him if he'd already had a lunch. He (with NO volume control) said, loud enough that everyone in the room stopped to listen, "my dad thinks I'm too fat and that I need to go on a diet, so he only packed me a salad for lunch and I'm STARVING."

So do I honor his father's wishes and make him eat what's in his lunch only, or do I let the boy eat??

I let him eat and he came back with a gigantic plate of food. I guess that I'm guilty of contributing to adolescent obesity. It's just that he was STARVING!

Welcome in Seattle!

Doesn't that just sound like something you would read on engrish.com? Since I am now living in a city where half of the population speaks engrish, I should try to start speaking like them. Mean, I know, but I know that the three people who actually read my blog probably won't be offended and might possibly laugh if it is really late at night and there is some sort of beverage involved--like sprite.?

So I realize what a lousy blogger I am. I read other people's blogs so much that I feel so inadequate at posting my own that I make excuses until I've forgotten about it. It usually takes a comment like, "Cydney, where are you?" for me to post again. I promise I'll try to be better. So here's my update. I am now living in the beautiful city of Seattle.


Though I don't actually live anywhere near the space needle, nor have I seen it since I've been here. This is more of what I see:

which is a much better view, in my opinion...

So I moved to Woodinville, WA--I'm living with my brother and teaching school which is funny because when I moved (ran) from Salt Lake I swore that I would not teach again and here I am--teaching sixth grade, the very grade that made me cry a whole lot last year. But you know what? I put the whole job thing in the Lord's hand and wow, he made it work! I love my school, I love my teaching team, and I love my class! Things are really really good. So good that most of the time I forget that I have absolutely no social life and no immediate prospects for one! I think that it helps that I have family and most importantly, three adorable nephews and one gorgeous niece to keep me smiling. In fact, I just made this halloween costume for my nephew, Will.


(and on that note, I'm going to put a little plug in for my website that you should check out when I actually get something posted on it. I'll be selling my costumes and bags, etc. there so please tell your friends...in a few weeks when there is something on it!! Mine is www.silverpenny.etsy.com and my sister's is www.ollieolliebaby.etsy.com. She sells cute baby stuff for those who are looking. She only has one thing on it right now, but I know she's working on a lot more. ) I'm shameless, sorry.

I...quit!

Yes, I actually did it to day. I didn't do it quite that way. I graciously let my principal know that I will not be returning next year. What a release. I love telling the truth. I'm heading to Seattle on Tuesday and I couldn't be more excited. More to come. I kind of forgot about my blog there for a while. That's how bad it was getting.